TURKEY'S DECLARATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 52, 27 February 1945, Page 4

TURKEY'S DECLARATION

THE belated declaration of war by Turkey against the last dying member of the Axis powers may give rise to adverse criticism on the part of those nations who have borne the heat and burden of the day. The course decided upon by the Turkish Government is however a perfectly feasible one when a study and knowledge of the background of this recently emancipated nation is taken into, consideration. The struggle between Von Papen and the English Diplomats to secure the ear of the Turkish Government in the early part of the war approached almost scandalous proportions until it ceased with the special preference treaty with Britain to supply theJTurkish Armed Forces with modern weapons of war, with' which" no doubt, it was fondly hoped, the Turkish forces would wage battle against the German-Italian armies in the Balkans. The plan however failed to materialise, chiefly because of the success which was then crowning the German invasion of Russia. Turkey being a small nation with limited means of arms production, could not afford to be precipitated. There can be no doubt that Turkey decided to play one side off against the other until it was quite evident which was the wisest move to make. The fact that she has been both an erstwhile foe and an ally of the British Empire in the past made her view the English overtures with signal apathy. The fact that she had been allied in misfortune with Germany in the last war, left her coldly aloop in that direction. Her most decided trend of thought was in the Soviet quarter, where her traditional enemy appeared to be about to go down in ignominious defeat at the hands of the Nazi forces of antiCommunism. Russia the only possible power likely to dispute ownership to the Dardenelles, or to the Golden Horn at Constantinople was made the deciding factor of Turkish sympathies in the World War of 1939. Increased pressure upon her leaders when America joined Britain after the Japanese stab-in-the-back still left her unmoved. Russia had either to be beaten beyond recouperation to bring Turkey to the side of her old ally, or else Russia had to be unmistakeably triumphant and victorious to bring her in with the forces of democracy. The latter course has taken place and with it the Turkish declaration of war upon the expiring giant. While we can scarcely admire Turkish statesmanship, we must be realistic enough to admit the doubts and fears of smaller nations in the present titanic struggle, before they committed themselves irrevocably to a set course of action. They who have everything to loose and little to gain in the battle of the mammoths can only be expected to be shrewdly diplomatic their dealings, and in a world of major issues Turkey's eleventh hour war is as logical as it was to be expected at the deliberations of the pect to be entirely eclipsed at the deliberations of -he 'Peace table' which are expected later in the year.